Earth1937
by solojones
Summary: A Star Wars/Indiana Jones Crossover. While on vacation, Han and Leia become stranded on a strange planet with little technology, no way home, and only a dashing archaeologist to help them. From Space, to Egypt, to the heart of Nazi Germany, the adventure
1. Courscant

We'll start off the day by saying that Han and Leia, and the elements of the Star Wars galaxy in this story belong to George Lucas. Indy and Sallah, and elements of the Indiana Jones Chronicles belong to George Lucas AND Steven Spielberg.   
  
Earth belongs to me, I own it, so no stealing my ideas!  
  
And thus we commence, 'Earth1937' by Solo Jones  
  
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Leia Organa squinted at the data pad screen in front of her. The text was so blurry she could barely make it out. She leaned back in her desk chair and rubbed her eyes. It had been two weeks since the whole incident at Bakura, and she was still sorting through the paperwork. She had been in her office probably 80% of the time, having her meals brought in for her. Han had been constantly bugging her about taking some time off, but he just didn't understand how much work there was to do. It had only been a month since the Alliance- now the New Republic- victory at Endor. She was somewhat tempted to follow his advice, but she knew there was no way she could afford to take time off, and Mon Mothma would never allow it anyway.   
  
There was a buzz from the comm at the door. Leia pushed a green button on her desk and said groggily, "Who is it? I'm very busy right now, so if you don't have an appointment-"   
  
"C'mon Leia, it's just me." Han's voice broke in. "Open up." Leia, too tired to actually go over to the door and physically greet him, hit another button on the desk which whisked the door open. Han stepped in, and quickly walked over to where Leia was seated. He leaned over and gave her a brief kiss on the forehead, before taking a seat across from her.   
  
"Hi." she said very unenthusiastically.  
  
A frown creased Han's forehead, "What'd I do now?" He asked.   
  
Leia rubbed her temples, "Nothing. This time it really isn't your fault. It's just all this work-" She waved a hand at her desk stacked with datacards and flimsies, "is driving me crazy."  
  
Han shook his head, "Sweetheart, I keep telling you to take a break. The New Republic can survive without you for a week."   
  
Leia groaned, "Han, I've heard this all before, and you know how I feel about that. My job is very important, and it's not easy to get away from."   
  
Han decided to be blunt. "I've arranged for you to have a week off, starting now." Leia's jaw dropped, and she tried to protest, but it was half-heartedly. They both knew she wanted time off, as well as needed it.   
  
"You... you got it cleared with Mon Mothma?" she asked.   
  
He smiled, "Yep. Not to say that she was exactly thrilled about the idea of one of the leaders of the Republic being completely out of contact for a whole standard week. But I convinced her it would do you some good." Han held up a hand to stop Leia's protest, "Plus, I got some place really neat to show you. C'mon, pack your bags. We leave in an hour."  
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	2. Kessel Run

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Han and Leia were both sitting in the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon, gazing out the viewport. Leia bit her lower lip. "You sure you know how to do this? This isn't just one of your crazy smuggler's tales, right. I mean, you actually have flown this before?"   
  
Han patted her arm reassuringly, "'Course I have. I even used to hold the record, before some nobody supposedly broke it." Though Leia didn't seem to be calming down much, Han continued, "The Kessel Run is an essential haul for all smugglers operating out of Nar Shadda. I've flown this thing so many times, I could probably do it with my eyes shut." Leia shot him a skeptical glance. "I remember the first time I flew it, I was scared to death. But then I realized how exhilarating it was, and it was worth the trouble." Leia nodded her consent. Obviously, Han was adamant about taking her with him on the (in)famous Kessel Run. She decided she might as well enjoy it.  
  
Han fired up the sublight engines, and the Falcon along with her two passengers headed into the first leg of the run. As Han had explained to Leia several times, the Kessel Run was made up of two legs. One half was called the Maw, and consisted of hundreds of collapsed stars forming blackholes in mass form. In order to get through it, a ship's captain would have to pilot around all of these blackholes without being sucked in by their all-consuming darkness. The second half, the Pit, was really just an enormous asteroid field that had all of the little quirks expected of such areas. From the direction they were going, the Maw would be their first leg. As the Falcon glided closer and closer to the Maw, Leia could start to make out little dark spots blemishing the star-speckled pattern of space. The further into it they got, the larger the spots became. Leia was awe-struck by just how many blackholes were around them. She tried to keep the eminent danger of this out of her thoughts.   
  
Han piloted skillfully, a look of full concentration set on his face. In his peripheral vision, he could see Leia, jaw slightly unhinged, staring out the viewport. He grinned, "Pretty amazing, huh princess?" he asked.   
  
Leia nodded slowly. "This is really something. Even with all the traveling I've done, I've barely ever seen a collapsed star. This place has them by the gross!"   
  
"Told ya you'd like it, didn't I?" Han said confidently. The ship was getting close to exiting the Maw and entering the Pit now. Han began to relax a bit at the controls. The most dangerous part was over. The Pit, while potentially deadly, was fairly predictable once you had flown the run a dozen or so times. And Han had flown it well over that. As the Falcon edged past one final blackhole, Han took the time to gloat his success, "That was a real smooth run, 'specially for someone who hasn't flown it in a decade. Don't you agr-"   
  
A sharp jolt which shook the Falcon cut Han off mid-sentence. "What the... what happened?" Han asked, as he picked himself off the floor and settled into the pilot's seat from which he had been dumped.  
  
"It appears, Captain, that we've been hit by an asteroid." Leia said in a weary tone. Somehow she knew they weren't going to get out of this one so easily.   
  
"But there are no asteroids this close to the Maw! I know every blasted rock in the field, there's no way that-" Han's face paled in sudden remembrance. "Stang! How could I have been so stupid! I forgot about Domilate's Blunder!" He cursed himself again, this time in a language unknown to Leia.   
  
Leia was almost afraid to ask, but she had to. "What is Domilate's Blunder?"   
  
Han rubbed his forehead in agony, as he checked the instrument panels on the control board. "This real hot pilot, Faco Domilate, decided comin' through this part of the Maw would shave off enough distance that he'd be able to break the record. What he didn't know was that in this previously unnavigated region, asteroids from the Pit actually entered the Maw. Domilate was so engrossed with the blackholes that he neglected to watch out for asteroids, figuring that there wouldn't be any just yet. A big rock plugged his ship right on the port side, and pummeled it into a trillion tiny pieces. Since then, this region's been known as Domilate's Blunder and is, for the most part, avoided." Han told his story as he checked the readouts of the ship.  
  
Despite her misgivings, Leia tried to remain optimistic, "So, we were hit by an asteroid. We're still in one piece, more or less. So why don't we fire up the sublights and get going? They're not damaged, are they?"   
  
Han shook his head, "No, no their fine... We've just sustained some outer hull damage and been knocked off course a little but-" Han froze. His face turned white as the plains of Hoth.   
  
"What?" Leia asked. She looked at Han, then said more insistently, "What?!"   
  
Han licked his suddenly dry lips. "We, we're uh, caught in the pull of a blackhole." He swallowed.   
  
"Well, can't we get out of the pull?" Leia asked urgently.   
  
Han shook his head slowly, "Blackholes pull in everything. Dust, light, gases... even time supposedly." Leia paled too as this sudden revelation sunk in. The Falcon began to slowly increase it's speed toward the blackhole. Han reached up and grabbed his emergency restraining belt, and Leia followed suit. "Hang on," Han said grimly, as their ship increased it's acceleration toward the ominous pitch black mass. "It could get rough."  
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	3. Earth

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When Han awoke, he had no idea how much time had passed. He also had no idea where he was. He tried to open his eyes, but had to shut them quickly when blood clouded his vision. He raised a hand to his forehead to find a deep gushing gash, presumably from hitting his head on the control board. Han used the back of his sleeve to wipe his eyes clear. He blinked. Outside, it was nearly pitch black. Wherever they were, they had obviously come into the system and landed on a planet turned away from its sun. Unfortunately, this information didn't help very much, considering that all the navigation equipment in the galaxy couldn't predict where a blackhole would take you. And maybe not just where, but when. This thought didn't brighten Han's mood any.   
  
He reached up and undid his safety harness. With a deep breath, he stood up. There was a sharp pain on his left side which caused him to nearly double over. When he had overcome the brief nausea brought on by this pain, he stood up. Carefully, he slid his shirt up to get a look at his side. Dark purple and red blotches covered his lower left ribs. He instantly knew they were cracked. He had had enough cracked ribs before to know that. And he also knew there wasn't really anything you could do for cracked ribs except let them heal. He grimaced at the thought, but there was no alternative.   
  
A slow movement caught the corner of his vision. Against his better judgment, he swirled around to see what it was. He saw Leia, slumped over in her seat, starting to wake up. 'Idiot!' he admonished himself, forgetting the pain to rush to her side. 'How could you forget about her, moron?!' He slid his right arm around her, and settled her back against the seatback. He also undid her safety belt, which he could see, had left a red mark across her neck. Her forehead had a large bruise on it, and her right arm had several lacerations, but other than that she seemed okay. Han gently shook her by the shoulders. "Leia? Leia, c'mon sweetheart. Wake up!" He was afraid she might have a concussion, and if that were the case falling asleep was the last thing she wanted to do.   
  
Leia's eyes opened groggily. She coughed slightly, then managed a thin smile. "Some run, Solo. This sidetrip is a, uh, pleasant surprise." she said dryly.   
  
A worried, regretful look creased Han's face. "Leia, I'm so sorry. I was such an idiot! Why did I even take you out there in the first place? And why didn't I check my course more carefully! Idiot!" He slammed a fist into the control board in frustration.   
  
Leia was afraid he would break something, and she quickly interrupted, "Hey! Breaking things won't help us get back. And really Han, it's not your fault. I know I don't remember every detail of every place I went when I was 12." She said the last part with a laugh, thinking of how awkward it was that 10 years ago to her meant 12 years old, while 10 years ago to him meant 23 years old. Han gave Leia a sour look, and Leia starting bursting into laughter. She was barely able to say, "I mean, I'm not even as old as you were... 10 years ago! Surely by the time I'm your age, I won't remember a thing!"   
  
Han ground his teeth. He didn't find that as amusing as Leia obviously did. "Thanks a lot for the compliments. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to go find the medi pack."   
  
As Han sauntered out of the cockpit, Leia composed herself enough to get up and follow. "I'm sorry Han. It's just so funny!" She laughed, coming up behind him in the fresher.   
  
"Sure. Hilarious." He said shortly. Han had laid the medi pack out on a counter in the 'fresher, and stood in front of the mirror, his back to Leia.   
  
Leia tried to explain, "Han, come on now. You know I don't care about it. It's just-" her words were cut short by a gasp. Han had carefully removed his jacket and shirt, and Leia could clearly see the swollen ribs on his left side. She grabbed a bandage and began to wrap it around him.   
  
He swatted her hand away. "I'm fine." He said.   
  
Leia shook her head, "No you're not. You've got at least two cracked ribs, you need to get them bandaged."   
  
"I can do it myself, your worship. Just leave me alone." He growled. Leia was shocked by his blunt tone, but conceded and backed off. She retreated to the hold, and sat at the gametable.   
  
Five minutes later, Han entered the hold now fully clothed once more. He said nothing to Leia, but simply went over to the instrument panel across from the gameboard. "Han, I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have made fun of you. And I didn't know you were hurt. No wonder you were in such a bad mood. I feel like such an idiot." Leia said quickly.   
  
Han turned toward her and shook his head, "You an idiot? Nah, it's me that's the idiot. I'm not mad at you Leia, I'm mad at myself. I had to go and be the hero and show off all my piloting 'skills', and now I've got us crash landed into who knows where." He turned back toward the instrument panel and added, "And our repulsors are busted, so we can't take off. At least the navicomputer had the sense to make the emergency landing on fairly even surface. Nothing else vital seems to be broken. But I have no clue where we are. Some uncharted system."   
  
Leia got up, all animosity between them replaced by curiosity, and came up beside Han to look at the readouts. "What did it find out about the system? Especially about this planet. Is it safe to go outside?" Leia asked.   
  
Han scanned through the information scrolling on the screen. "Computer reports it has 9 planets, and one sun. The planet we're on is the third closest to that sun, and has one moon." He read on, "Surface is about 70% water. Atmosphere is 70% Nitrogen, but 20% Oxygen. No toxic levels of harmful gas. Should be okay to breathe. And the gravity is about the same as Courscant."   
  
Leia nodded, "Well that's good news. So what are we waiting for? Let's get out there and find the nearest city." They wasted no time in this. Leia quickly changed into casual tan pants and shirt fit for the rugged outdoors. Han gathered up some water jugs, a tent, and some food rations into a pack. Soon, the two were assembled at the hatch.   
  
"Ready?" Han asked. Leia nodded an affirmative. Han pressed the open button, and the door slid upward swiftly and silently. They stepped outside, and Han set the lock on the hatch. Then they turned to survey their surroundings. It was still night, but the sun was barely breaking on the horizon, just enough so that Han and Leia could see out across the landscape. For miles and miles, the land was covered with dunes upon dunes of sand. It reminded Han a lot of Tatooine.   
  
"Well, this is an interesting place isn't it?" Leia said.   
  
Han replied, "Yeah, real scenic. 'Lot like where Luke grew up. And if that's any indication of what this place is like, we better get as much traveling done as we can before the sun comes up. It will be hot enough to fry a minock egg on a speeder real soon." Leia agreed silently, and they set off. They had taken the time to study the electronic reading the Falcon was picking up, and had found there was a city about 5 miles to the south. If they were lucky, it wouldn't take them long to get there.   
  
Han and Leia made fairly good time across the soft dunes. But when the sun came up, things became increasingly difficult. By the planet's midday, the sun was straight over their heads and glaring down on them with intense heat. Han, having lived on Tatooine for a while, was used to it. And since this planet only had one sun to Tatooine's two, it was not quite as hot. Leia, however, had only been to Tatooine once and had spent her brief time there mostly inside Jabba's palace. They were both sweating from the heat, but Leia was suffering more. Han held her arm and helped her up a particularly steep dune. When they got to the top, they were overjoyed to have a clear view to a glittering spot in the desert. The city was about one and a half miles from their dune, and was almost entirely downhill. "Look! We're almost there!" Leia exclaimed, suddenly filled with energy. Han gazed at the city. Although he could barely make out the features of the buildings, something bothered him. He didn't see any ships lifting off, or coming in. He decided that they probably didn't lift off around this time due to the danger of sun glare off of ships blinding pilots. It was a fairly reasonable assumption, but he still had a bad feeling about it.   
  
Leia stepped forward down the dune, and began to speed up. "Come on Han, it's not that far! We can make it in an hour if we hurry!" Han, exhausted from the hike, his ribs aching, decided it wasn't such a good idea to hurry right now.   
  
"Leia, wait! Come back!" He called to her. She stopped, and turned back.   
  
"What? What's the matter? Are you all right?" She seemed concerned.   
  
He replied, "I'm fine. It's just that I think we should rest for a while. I know it's not that far to the city, but it's really hot out and we only have one water container left. We should stop and get some food and water into our systems before we go on." Leia looked from him to the city, and back. Then she sighed and climbed back up to where he was standing.   
  
"We're so close..." she grumbled, "but you're right. We should rest. Maybe get some sleep, too."   
  
Han unshouldered the pack and took out the small tent within. Finding a nice flat area, he threw down the compact plastic item which suddenly expanded to a 6 foot by 4 foot tent. "Not much, but it'll provide shade." Han said, grabbing the pack and crawling in. Leia followed. Han took a sip from the canteen, and passed it to Leia who did the same. They were careful to preserve the water for any unforeseen difficulties. Neither of them were very hungry, but they split a tasteless ration bar for nutrition purposes. After their brief meal, they restored their food and drinks and zipped up the tent to prevent any sand from blowing in. Han laid back and shifted until he was in a semi-comfortable position. Leia scooted next to him, and laid down with her head on his chest. "Ow!" Han cried out, causing Leia to jump up.   
  
"I'm sorry! I forgot about your ribs." she apologized.   
  
Han managed a smile, "It's okay. Just get on my good side." Han scooted to the far side of the tent as Leia stepped over him and settled herself up against his right side. Once she was settled in, using Han as a pillow, she drifted easily off into sleep.   
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	4. Rescue

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It was four hours later when the camels approached. There were two of them. One was carrying a tall, stout man with a short black beard and a white cloth protecting his head from the bright sun. The camel behind him was lugging his supplies. He had seen the tent atop the dune from about a mile away, and wondered why in all the Pharos' names someone had decided to camp out on a dune. He brought his camels to a halt, and dismounted. He approached the strange-looking bright orange tent. It was made of a material unlike any he'd ever seen before. "Hello." He called out. "Hello, is anyone in there?" There was no response. If there was anyone inside the tent, they must be asleep or unconscious. He decided he'd better open up the tent. He undid the zipper, and stared inside.   
  
Inside the small shelter, two people were laying on the ground, asleep but not unconscious. One of them was a woman, with thick dark brown hair pulled up in a braid and wound up around a bun in the back. She was dressed in tan clothing. The man noticed that she had a slight bruise on her forehead, and some scabs on her right arm from recently healed cuts. The man next to her also had a scab on his forehead that looked similar. He was about a foot taller than his companion, and had shaggy brown hair. He was wearing black pants, a white shirt, and a dark jacket. He must have been burning up in those clothes, the Arab thought. Suddenly, the man stirred a little. He slowly sat up and blinked his eyes before opening them fully to stare at the newcomer.   
  
Han had awakened to find a tall man at the door of the tent. The man was wearing long white robes, and was obviously a native to this area judging by his tanned skin and desert apparel. As the man focused on Han's face, his jaw dropped in shock. "Indy?" the man said in a strong, yet friendly voice. Han had hoped the man would know basic, but apparently he didn't. Han moaned, 'Great. Just perfect. I had to be rescued by someone on a strange planet speaking a strange language.' Then the man continued, "Indy, is that you? My friend, what are you doing out here? And who is that?"   
  
Han was surprised to hear the man speaking accented Basic. "Who... who are you? You speak Basic?" Han stuttered.   
  
"It's me, Sallah. And it is called English, my friend. You seem to have suffered some dehydration. And you are in great need of a haircut-"   
  
Han waved a hand and stood up slowly, "Listen pal. I don't know who you are, or what English is, or even where I am. I just want a ride to the city. You got a speeder?"   
  
Sallah was very confused by the way Indiana was talking, but he knew what dehydration could do to a man. He decided to get his friend back to full health with as little arguments as possible. "Yes, of course. I have two camels outside to take us back to Cairo. Then we will get you some help, and some rest." Sallah said. Then he noticed that the young women on the ground had been awake and quietly watching the conversation for quite some time now. She stood up, and stretched. "Who is this?" Sallah indicated Leia. Han was tempted to ask him to spare the questions, but decided to humor Sallah.   
  
"This is Leia. And I'm Han. Han Solo." He pointed a finger at his chest.   
  
Sallah smiled at Leia, "It is a pleasure to meet you, Leia." Then he turned a questioning glance at Indy. Sometimes the heat caused temporary memory loss, and he suspected that's what had happened to his friend. He decided to just get him back as quickly as possible and to ask questions later, "And you... Han." They shook hands.   
  
Leia thought the native, Sallah, seemed very nice. And she was relieved that he spoke basic, or as he called it, English. "Come, my friends." Sallah said, leading them out of the tent. "We will get back to Cairo, and then you two can get cleaned up." Leia stopped as she saw what Sallah intended for them to ride on to the city, Cairo. There were two of them. They were quadrupeds, and shaped very oddly. They had long skinny legs with knobby knees and large flat feet for walking on the sand. Their backs were rounded into a large hump. Their necks were long, designed to reach the ground without much bending over. They were covered in shaggy tan fur. Sallah quickly boarded his beast, then looked back at Leia and Han, who were just standing there. "Come on, my friends. Get on. We should not be wasting time." Sallah urged them.   
  
Han surveyed his ride. "Right." he said skeptically. "Get on. Okay..." He approached the animal. The seat on it had mounting straps similar to the ones he had used for the taun-tauns on Hoth. He placed his left foot in the stirrup, and in one powerful move, swung himself onto the animal's back. The stabbing pain in his ribs made him regret this quick movement, but he simply bit his lip and bore it. "C'mon Leia." He called down challengingly. "It's easy. Even an old man like ME can do it." Leia, never one to decline a challenge, stepped over toward the mount. She put her foot in the stirrup, and swung herself up with as much strength as she could muster. She landed easily behind Han on the blanket. "Not bad." Han muttered. Leia smiled at her small victory.   
  
Sallah watched this little display with much amusement. Whoever this Leia woman was that Indy was with, she was obviously very independent. Sallah smiled at the couple. "Come now. We will go to my house. You two shall rest up, and tomorrow you can recount your tale." He turned around and with a sharp 'hut, hut!' urged his camel forward, down the dune toward Cairo.   
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	5. Cairo

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Sallah's wife had been kind enough to loan Leia a clean pair of clothes. Now that she was all cleaned up and rehydrated, she felt 100% better. The cream-colored flowing robe she wore was also made of a light, more comfortable material than her previous garbs. She walked out of the room they had provided her with, and into the family room. Sallah was sitting on a chair, and he smiled warmly up at her when she entered. "Ah, Leia. Are you feeling better now?" he asked in his booming, cheerful voice.   
  
Leia smiled, "Yes thanks to you and your wife. Where's Han?"   
  
Sallah's face fell a little. He had hoped that when they awoke, Indy and Leia would have fully regained their memory. He wondered why they both still denied his identity. "Leia, are you still not feeling well?" he asked.   
  
Leia shook her head, "I feel fine. Better than fine. Why?" Sallah was about to question her, when he was interrupted by a yell of surprise from Han's room. Sallah and Leia exchanged a glance, then headed off down the hall.   
  
Han was sitting up in his bed, running his hands through his now short hair in disbelief. He had awaked feeling much better, until he had reached up a hand to straighten his hair. He found that it was cut short. It wasn't that this hairstyle displeased him (he had worn his hair shorter for five years while serving in the Imperial Navy) but it simply came as a shock to him. He saw Leia and Sallah appear at the doorway. Sallah smiled, "Ah, I see you are looking much better this morning. Your hair was quite unkempt. I had it cut back to it's normal length." Han stood up, glad to note that he still had his normal clothing on, only his jacket was on a chair. He picked up his jacket and slipped it on.   
  
"Sure, it's just fine." Han answered, not really understanding why Sallah had felt compelled to cut Han's hair. He decided it was probably customary to wear ones hair short in such a climate.   
  
"Come, we will eat." Sallah said, leading them further down the hall.   
  
Leia smiled at Han, and reached up to ruffle his short hair. "I like it. Something new... makes you look YOUNG."   
  
Han grinned at her lopsidedly, "Not that I need it, though. Right?"   
  
Leia laughed, "Of course not." The two of them were greeted by the smell of something cooking. Their stomachs reminded them how long they'd been without a real meal.   
  
They were ushered to seats at a long table. Sallah's nine children were settle around it. Sallah was seated at one end, and his wife was setting steaming dishes on the table. They began to eat their morning meal, which consisted of some sort of ground, fried meat, grain cakes, and berry juice. Han and Leia virtually inhaled their food.   
  
Sallah ate his own breakfast, while watching Indy and Leia. He decided it was time to jog his friend's memory. "Indy, why aren't you at the convention in downtown Cairo?"   
  
Han stopped eating and stared at Sallah with a puzzled look on his face. "What are you talking about? Why would I be there?" he asked, "And why do you keep calling me Indy? My name's Han!   
  
Sallah was beginning to get worried about his friend. "You came by just two weeks ago to pay a visit. You said you would be in town for a month at a large convention. How did you wind up in the desert, and who" he indicated Leia, "is this?"   
  
Han shook his head. Sallah obviously was having a case of mistaken identity. "Look, pal. You obviously got me confused with someone else. Our ship just crash landed on this planet. In fact, what planet is this? It's not on any of the charts." Sallah was utterly confused by his friend's behavior. The delusion was worse than he'd thought. He cleared his throat, "Come now. You are Professor Indian Jones, famous archaeologist. And what is this talk about never having been to Earth?"   
  
"Earth?" Han said. He turned the word over in his brain, "Never heard of it. Have you?" he asked Leia. Leia shook her head, and then turned to Sallah. "We had a crash landing here. We came out of a blackhole, and the navicomputer made an emergency landing. We need to find some place to get our repulsors fixed so we can take off. Is there a spaceport near by?" Sallah was really perplexed now. It seemed that Leia also thought they had come from outer space.   
  
Sallah shook his head, "I don't know what you are talking about. What is a spaceport?" Han looked at Leia in fear.   
  
He coughed, then cleared his throat. "You mean to tell me that there are no spaceports around here? You've never even heard of one?" Han said slowly. Sallah nodded. "So there are none on this whole planet?" Sallah nodded again. "And you don't have any interstellar craft?" Han continued. Sallah nodded once more. Han leaned back in his seat with a groan. Leia bit her lip. "Great! We get stranded on some unknown planet, and they don't even have space travel yet! How are we going to get home?" Han shouted.   
  
From the other room, a knock could be heard on the front door. "I'll get it!" Sallah's son Salim yelled, and ran into the other room. An opening door could be heard, and then a man's voice. The boy came running into the room announcing, "Papa, papa! Uncle Indy is here!"   
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	6. Indy

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Indy entered his friend's house and followed his young son toward the kitchen. "Sallah!" He called out as he approached the kitchen. "Salim here has been telling me that you found-" Indy stopped short when he walked into the room.   
  
Han's jaw dropped further than it ever had. "Minions of Xendor!" he said, using an expression he hadn't in a decade. "I've been cloned!" Before him stood a 6'1" tall man, with brown hair (which was partially hidden by some sort of brown hat), glittering hazel eyes, and a distinct scar on his chin. Han could not believe it. No wonder Sallah had mistaken Han for this man. They looked exactly alike.   
  
Indy cleared his throat. "He told me you found two people in the desert. I uh, assume these are them." he turned to Leia, intentionally breaking his eerie stare with Han. "I'm Indiana Jones." he said with a dashing smile, "and who might you be?"   
  
Leia was silent for a moment. She was still getting over the shock of seeing this man who could easily have been Han's identical twin... or clone. She quickly dismissed that thought. These people didn't even have space travel, little less cloning technology. But it was still a very odd coincidence. Leia finally found her voice, "I'm Leia Organa. But you can just call me Leia."   
  
Jones grinned in reply. "And you can call me Indy." Han coughed a little. He was not enjoying this little exchange at all. Indy turned to Han, "And you... are... well...." Indy was at a loss for words."   
  
Han licked his lips. He was very nervous about this whole thing. It was very weird meeting someone who looked exactly like you, right down to your distinct scars. "I'm Han Solo. And you can call me Han. Or Solo. Or Captain Solo. Or you can call me Indy, and I could call you Han, if we really wanted to confuse everyone."   
  
Indy's weatherworn yet handsome face broke out into a sideways grin. It proved infectious. With a glance to Sallah, who nodded, Indy led the guests into the family room. There, Indy and Sallah sat on one couch, and Han and Leia sat across from them on another. "So, you from around here?" Indy asked.   
  
Han and Leia exchanged an ironic glance, "Hardly." Han said. "We're not even from this planet."   
  
He expected Jones to be utterly shocked by this, but was surprised when he just slowly nodded. "Oh. So where are you from? Mars? Pluto?"   
  
Han hadn't the faintest idea what planets Indy was talking about, but he answered anyway, "Well we're from all around you could say... The Republic is based on Courscant, which is where out apartments are..." Han kept staring at Indy's face. It was like watching a mirror, a mirror with it's own thought, feelings, and actions.   
  
Indy nodded slowly, not really listening to Solo's explanation. "Oh, that's nice." he said simply. Leia leaned forward and stared hard at him seriously, a hard thing to do when he looked just like the man sitting next to her with his arm carelessly draped about her shoulder. "You aren't taking this seriously, are you Indy?" she asked.   
  
Indy sighed, "No, not really. I mean, I've seen a lot of crazy stuff, but aliens?"   
  
Leia shook her head, "We're not aliens. We're humans. We're just not Earthians." she didn't really know what people from Earth called themselves, so she took her best guess.   
  
It obviously wasn't the appropriate term, because Indy started laughing. "Earthlings is the word you're looking for." he corrected.   
  
"Ok, Earthlings. We aren't Earthlings. Technically, I'm an Alderaanian and Han's a Corellian." she explained, adding, "Corellians are a particularly stubborn and self-righteous race." Han raised his eyebrows in innocence.   
  
Indy didn't know what to make of all this. There were two possibilities, both of them seemingly unlikely. Number one, Han and Leia were crazy, and had spent too much time in the sun. But this also meant there was another person on Earth who looked just like himself. Number two, Han and Leia were telling the truth. It was a big galaxy, and somewhere out there was someone who looked just like Indy and had somehow wound up in the same place as him. Indy shook his head. This was very confusing. "Okay," he challenged, "you say you're not from Earth. Prove it."   
  
Leia groaned inwardly. Not only did this man look just like Han, he was just as suspicious. Which probably meant he had about the same temper. This was going to be a long stay. "Han, show him your blaster." she said. Han nodded, and with practiced elegance, swooped his hand down to his right hip where his blaster holster was slung low. He wore it all the time, and he had forgotten about it until now. Still sitting, he casually lifted the blaster and flicked it into stun mode, just to be safe. He fired off a harmless shot at the wall.   
  
Indy stared in amazed silence at not only the blue rings that shot out from the 'blaster', but also at the grace with which its wielder used it. He tried to defend his position, "Okay. So you have some really fancy weapons. Maybe you stole them from some new government experiment." Han set his jaw stubbornly. If this guy wanted to be difficult, that was fine by him. He'd prove it to him anyway. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a holo he always kept of him with Leia, Luke, and Chewbacca. In it, they were standing aboard the bridge of a battleship, with a viewport full of star behind them. Han pressed a button, which quickly projected a full-color, life-size version of the photo. "This is me, and Leia, her brother Luke, and my friend Chewbacca," he paused in pointing out the towering alien, "on board the Home One. It was an Alliance battle cruiser. This is after the Battle of Endor, on the way back to Courscant. You can see the stars outside, so it was obviously before we jumped to lightspeed." Han explained as if it were the simplest thing in the world.   
  
Indy did a good job holding back his thoughts. Obviously, no technology like this existed on Earth. But how could these people be from another planet? It just wasn't possible. "Photos can be faked." Indy said quietly.   
  
Han raised an eyebrow at him, "Oh really? And projected to life-size hologram images?" Indy didn't say anything. "Look, I know it's gotta be hard to except, but it's the truth. Where we come from, it's just a way of life. There are barely any planets in our galaxy without space travel."   
  
Indy sighed, "I guess you're right. But still..."   
  
Leia closed up the holo and handed it back to Han. "If it makes you feel better, barely anyone in our galaxy has ever been outside of it. We've never been out this far. Not even Han, and he's traveled a lot." Leia comforted.   
  
Indy smiled, "Bet he has some great stories."   
  
Leia rolled her eyes, "Oh, I'm sure he could think of some tale to occupy hours upon hours of your time."   
  
Indy laughed, "I have a few stories of my own. I travel all over the Earth, and have been some places no one else alive has ever seen... but I guess it's nothing compared to being all over an entire galaxy."   
  
Indy stood up and crossed over to stand in front of Han and Leia's couch. He extended a hand, which Han took and shook in the universal greeting. He did the same for Leia. He couldn't help his slow grin from spreading across his face. "Welcome to Earth." he said.   
*******************************************************************  



	7. Reminiscing

***********************************************************************   
  
Han and Leia had decided they could wait until the next day to go back to the Falcon and check it out. They put the problem of getting it to liftoff, and getting back through the blackhole to their proper time and place, out of their minds. Leia decided, she had taken time off to relax and she was going to relax! Sallah had explained that downtown Cairo was not a pleasant place, that he had grown up there and living on the edge of the city was much better. Right now, he and Han were talking about growing up in the inner cities of Earth and Corellia. Leia wondered out onto the deck. Upon the hilltop where the house sat, there was a wonderful view of the city with it's glowing lights and stone buildings. Leia took a seat on the benchseat and just sat watching the sun set.   
  
"Beautiful night, huh?" A voice behind her startled her, breaking her out of her reverie. She turned her head to see Indy standing, leaning against the wall, two cups of some sort of drink in his hands. He nodded to the seat next to Leia. "May I?" He asked.   
  
She smiled, "Of course." He sat down, and handed her one of the mugs. She smelled it cautiously. He took a sip of his.   
  
"It's called tea. Try it." he urged her.   
  
She took a sip, and delighted in it's sweetened flavor. "So Indy, what exactly do you do here on Earth?" she asked.   
  
He rubbed the slight stubble on his chin and took a sip of his tea. "Well, to most people I'm a professor of Archaeology. I teach. But my passion is field work. And you could say I'm not your typical shovel and pick ax kind of guy. I have more... unique methods of gathering artifacts." He explained.   
  
This intrigued her, "Ah. So you're an adventurer."   
  
Indy laughed, "Yeah, you could call it that." There was a time of silence as they drank some more of their tea. "What do you do?" Indy asked.   
  
Leia thought about it for a while. "It's hard to say, really. It's a long story...." she trailed off.   
  
Indy sat up, interested. "Well we've got plenty of time. C'mon, tell me."   
  
Leia smiled, "All right." she agreed. She thought back to where it had all began. That brought her to palace life on Alderaan.   
  
"I grew up on this beautiful planet, Alderaan. It had green fields, and mountains, and blue seas. It was a very peaceful place. There were no weapons, and the citizens got along fairly well. My father... my adoptive father, Bail Organa, was the King of the planet. Even though he was King, our planet, like most others, was part of the Galactic Empire. The Empire was a huge government ruled by a man named Emperor Palpatine. But Palpatine was a corrupt bigot, and very hateful. He treated the people of his kingdom, especially non-humans, very poorly." She looked at Indy to make sure he wasn't being bored by all of this, but he seemed very interested.   
  
"So you're a Princess?" he asked.   
  
She nodded modestly. "It's mostly just an honorary title anymore..."   
  
"Go on." Indy urged her.   
  
"Where was I? Oh yes. When I was 17 I was elected to the Imperial Senate as the Senator of Alderaan. Back home, my father and his friends were secretly plotting with other planets to form a rebellion against the Empire. Through spies like myself in the Senate, we found out that they had a new super weapon planned. When I was 18, some spies stole the plans and gave them to me and my counselor's ship. We were carrying them back to my father on Alderaan when we were caught." Indy's eyes widened in horror. He knew what being caught by the enemy was like. It was not a pleasant thing.   
  
"How'd you escape?" He asked.   
  
"Well, luckily, I was able to get the plans into R2-D2 -he's a robot friend of ours- and he took the plans to former General Ben Kenobi on Tatooine. He joined up with Luke, whose aunt and uncle had just been killed by Imperial troops looking for the droids. Luke and Ben hired Han as a pilot to Alderaan, where they planned to give the plans to my father."   
  
Indy interrupted, "Hired him? What did he do, some sort of charter service?"   
  
Leia bit her lower lip. This was always an issue Han liked to avoid, and she wasn't so sure he'd appreciate her revealing it to a complete stranger. But somehow she felt safe around Indy. Probably because he reminded her so much of Han. "Uh, no. He was a spice smuggler. Spice is a sort of... illegal drug."   
  
"Oh." Indy said, and left it at that. Silently, he wondered at the irony of a drug smuggler and a Princess winding up together. He also knew he wasn't the first person to make note of this.   
  
Leia continued quickly, "So anyway... I was being held captive aboard the Death Star, the Empire's super weapon. They tried everything to get me to tell them where the Rebel base was, even torture... But I wouldn't. So they-" her voice cracked a little. Indy scooted a bit closer to the Princess and settled his arm across the back of the bench. Grateful, she leaned up against him. "They blew up Alderaan. It was completely incinerated. All those innocent people..." her voice trailed off into small sobs. Indy could do nothing but let her cry on his shoulder. In a minute, she wiped the tears from her eyes and went on. "Han and Luke rescued me. Ben was killed, but the three of us escaped. Han got his reward and left. Then we used the plans to find a weakness in the Death Star. We launched an attack. Almost all of our pilots were killed. Only Luke and one other pilot survived... And Han came back and saved Luke. Luke blew up the Death Star, and that really kicked things off for the Alliance."   
  
She sighed, "That was almost 3 and a half years ago. Since then, we'd been moving bases all over, running from the Emperor. Han decided to stay and even became a General after... after being detained by an old enemy for a while." The way Leia said it made it sound like it wasn't just some ordinary capture. Indy made a mental note to find out about it later. "About a month ago, we fought this battle against another Death Star. Han and I and our team got its shield down, while the fighters went in and took out the core. The Emperor and most of his top goons died aboard the second Death Star. Since then, it's been a rebuilding process. I'm one of the people helping to organize the New Republic." She ended.   
  
Indy nodded, in awe of the amazing life this young woman had lead. "So how'd you get to Earth?"   
  
"Han and I were on a vacation of sorts, and accidentally got caught in a blackhole. We were sent here in an emergency landing." she explained. "But I'm glad we did. This place is nice..." She sighed and just enjoyed the comfort of leaning against his shoulder and gazing out as the last oranges and reds faded from the evening sky.   
  
Indy looked down at Leia. She was very beautiful, with a regal yet tough looking face. She reminded him a lot of Marion. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing. Indy wanted to know more about the two guests, "So you and Han... you're, like, engaged?" This question brought an exasperated sigh from Leia.   
  
"Well, not exactly. Han's not the type of person to commit to things easily. I mean, we've always just sort of assumed we are going to get married some day, but he's never really asked me or made any plans." she frowned. "I don't know. He can be really aggravating sometimes..."   
  
There was a sharp cough from behind them. Indy and Leia turned to see Han casually leaning against a post. He was observing the two of them very closely. "Hope I'm not interrupting something important." Han drawled. Leia scooted away from Indy a little, and Indy set his arm back at his side.   
  
"Hi Han. How are you tonight?" Leia was somewhat nervous. How much of her and Indy's conversation had he heard? What had he seen? Why did it matter?   
  
"Oh, I'm just fine. And how about you two?" Han asked, giving Indy a wary glance.   
  
Leia smiled warmly, "I was just telling Indy about how you rescued me from certain death and how together we helped save the galaxy."   
  
'That wasn't exactly the way she'd put it earlier', Indy thought.   
  
Han was somewhat suspicious of his look-alike. If he had Han's charm, Han would have to watch out for him. "Well, I've been talking to Sallah about Cairo. Sounds like a regular Mos Eisley, if you ask me. Minus the spaceships and gangster slugs, that is." Han grinned crookedly. Leia laughed, a genuine laugh.   
  
Indy, feeling left out, broke in, "There are only two small cots for guests, and now with three guests in the house someone's gonna have to sleep on the couch." The three of them exchanged glances. When the two men noticed that Leia was about to offer herself up, they blurted out simultaneously, "I'll do it." It was fair to say that all three of them were disturbed by the identical voices.   
  
But Han wasted no time recomposing himself. "No, it's okay. I'm used to sleeping on the bunks on the Falcon. That couch is like sleeping on air compared to them. I'll be fine."   
  
Indy shrugged, "Sounds fair."   
  
Han walked over to Leia, and planted a deliberate kiss on her cheek. "See you in the morning, sweetheart." he said with a wink. She smiled at him, and he disappeared into the family room.   
  
"Good night, your highness." Indy whispered, true respect filling the title for once. The two of them headed to their rooms. Leia changed into her sleeping gown, then laid down on the bed. Indy and Han really seemed to butt heads over her. She smiled.   
  
"Men." she snorted, then drifted off to sleep.   
*******************************************************************  



	8. Plotting

***********************************************************************   
  
On camel, the journey back to the Falcon didn't seem to be as long and strenuous as it had on foot going the other direction. Han and Leia were sharing a camel, with Indy and Sallah on the two camels ahead of them. Sallah was dressed as usual, insisting that he knew best how to keep comfortable in the desert. Indy was wearing his well-worn fedora, and even Leia had been loaned a cloth to cover her head from the sun. Indy had insisted that Han find some way to cover his head, so naturally, Han had refused. He was somewhat regretting that decision as noon drew closer.   
  
"How much farther, you think?" Sallah asked without turning around. Han blinked and wiped a hand over his face to clear some of the sweat off his forehead.   
  
"Uh, not too far." 'I hope' he added silently. He honestly hadn't been paying much attention to that. The group rode up yet another of the seemingly endless, yet somehow identical dunes. This time, they were delighted to look down from the top and see the Falcon were it had landed at the bottom of the hill. Sallah was frozen with his jaw open, staring at the enormous vehicle. Indy removed his hat and ran fingers through his wet hair, raising his eyebrows in amazement.   
  
Leia turned to look at Han, who was gleaming with pride. First site of the beat-up freighter usually brought laughs, scoffing, even insult. Rarely was it met with awe. These people had never seen an interstellar craft. Just to fly in this planet's atmosphere was a crude and sometimes dangerous process to them. Any vessel, old or new, which could reach the stars was stunning. "That's your ship?" Indy asked Han. Han smiled, a genuine smile of happiness.   
  
"That's my ship." The pilot replied with pride. Han managed to break himself out of his reverie. "C'mon, let's get inside before we get cooked out here." He said with a sharp tap to his camel to urge it down the sand. Sallah and Indy, both truly dumbfounded, mustered up enough confidence to follow.   
  
Han casually unlocked the outer hatch, and lowered the ramp. He and Leia began walking up it, when he noticed that Indy and Sallah were not following. He stopped, and frowned at them. "C'mon, what are you waiting for? It's perfectly safe, I promise," Han urged them forward. Indy reluctantly started up with Sallah behind him. Once they were all inside, Han hit a button and closed the ramp. The sound of the airtight seal closing, which seemed so natural to Han, startled the Earthlings. Han wasn't able to stifle his laughter. "Little jumpy? Come on," he led them into the cargo hold, and waved at the couch. "Sit down and I'll get us something to drink. Then we've gotta figure out a way to get the Falcon back into orbit." Han poured some tea into mugs for all of them.   
  
"Thanks." Indy said, taking his mug. He watched Leia nonchalantly gulp hers down, and followed suit. Sallah was a little more reluctant to try the strange drink, but after a few sips found out that he actually liked it. As they drank, Indy and Sallah's eyes wondered the room carefully examining the knobs and levers on the instrument panels.   
  
Han leaned up against a bulkhead and drank his own tea, giving his guests time to survey their surroundings before asking them any questions. Finally, Indy asked, "So what's the problem with your ship? The engine's broke? Because I hate to break it to you, but we're going to have a hard time finding a replacement. I highly doubt any of the junk dealers in Cairo have spare million horse power engines lying around."   
  
Leia didn't know what a horse was or how much power it provided, but she agreed that there wouldn't have been an engine suitable for the Falcon on this planet. Fortunately, they didn't need an engine... technically. "Our engines are fine, but the repulsors are virtually shot." She explained.   
  
"Oh yeah, hate it when that happens." Indy remarked, obviously having no clue what a repulsor was.   
  
"We can travel in space, but we don't have much to get us out of Earth's atmosphere." Leia explained. Indy sat back and rubbed his stubble-covered chin. He looked around the ship, gauging the approximate bulk of the vessel. "Well, if you got enough propulsion, you might be able to get this baby airborne. Do you think if you got it off the ground, you'd be able to have enough power to get into space again."   
  
"Well what sort of engines do you have on this planet?" Han asked. "Is there a military?" he added.   
  
Indy and Sallah exchanged a glance. Indy cleared his throat, "There are several large militaries from different countries. Right now, we are on the brink of war between many of the countries, though." By the look on their faces, there was something Indy and Sallah were not saying.   
  
Han decided to pry further, "Well do they have any aircraft that we could, uh, borrow?" He asked.   
  
Indy seemed very tense, and Sallah shook his head at his friend. He could not be thinking what Sallah thought he was thinking. A slow smile spread across Indy's face. He was. "Well, see the country I come from, America... we're trying to stay out of the whole war mess. We've got planes, but no large craft like, say, Germany."   
  
Sallah let out a groan, "Indy, you cannot be thinking what I think you are." He pleaded.   
  
Indy gave his friend a sly smile, "Relax Sallah. It's the only way."   
  
Leia had been listening with much interest. The prospect of a means off the planet seemed hopeful. Not to mention, the diplomat in her was very interested in the workings of the complex multi-governments of this planet. "Who is Germany?" She asked inquisitively.   
  
Indy took a deep breath and replied, "Well you see, Germany is this country in the part of Earth we call Europe, which is across the ocean from America. Recently, they've been gettin' some real crazy ideas on how their race, Aryans they call themselves, are supreme and should be in charge."   
  
Han snorted, "Sound like regular Imperials to me."   
  
Indy continued, "They've been trying to take over the other European countries, and with their military power they just might succeed." he said with a grimace. "Anyway, there's no doubt that they're building up an airforce for their raids. And they have these things called blimps too..... Just maybe enough to get you into space. The only problem is the Nazi Stormtroopers-"   
  
"The what?" Leia cut him off.   
  
"They're the ground troops of the Nazis, that's the name of the 'political party' ruling Germany right now." Indy explained. Han and Leia looked at each other, bewildered. "   
  
Stormtroopers?" Han asked slowly. Indy nodded. Han shook his head. "That's just too weird." Han mumbled.   
  
Indy cocked an eyebrow, "What?" he asked. Neither of the space-fairers said anything. "What?" he persisted.   
  
"It's just that, Stormtroopers, that's exactly what the Empire's troops are called." Leia said. Indy's eyebrows both raised in amusement.   
  
"That's a little creepy." Indy said.   
  
"Tell me about it." Han commented. "Who'd have guessed that somewhere on the other side of the Universe, there was a guy who looks just like me and fights off the same type of goons." Everyone was silent for a while, pondering the eerie coincidences.   
  
Then Indy shook his head, and cleared his throat. "Listen, if we can get to Germany, I have a pretty good plan on how to get a plane or a blimp back here...." he said, and began to explain.   
  
Half an hour later, the group had agreed to Indy's idea. They all returned to the desert outside. Han locked up the Falcon, then re-mounted his camel with Leia.   
  
"Indy," Sallah said, climbing aboard his own ride, "I am worried. I am not sure going into Germany is a god idea." he sounded concerned.   
  
Indy laughed, and reached over to clap his friend on the shoulder from atop his own camel. "Oh come on Sallah, it'll be fine. What could possibly go wrong?"   
*******************************************************************  



	9. Into the Lion's Den

***********************************************************************   
  
Sallah embraced his friend in a warm hug. "Sallah, please. You're gonna make us miss our flight. We'll be fine, I promise." Indy said for the second time.   
  
Sallah withdrew, and smiled. "Take care of yourself, Indy." he nodded to Han and Leia, "I wish you much luck in your quest."   
  
Leia smiled, "Thanks for all the help. Good-bye."   
  
Indy tugged at Leia and Han's arms, pulling them along. "I'm not joking, these airlines are not patient. We've gotta get going." He lead them toward the stairs into the plane.   
  
Once inside, the three travelers found their seats. There were two on each side of a narrow aisle going back for about 7 rows. At the back, two stewardesses sat, looking bored. Han had a window seat with Indy seated next to him, and Leia across the aisle. Han settled himself in, and strapped on the safety belt. He glanced nervously out the window. Indy was amused. "First time in the air?" he joked.   
  
Han turned around and smiled. "Not quite. Just a little doubting of the worthiness of this craft. Are you positive this thing actually gets off the ground?" he asked. Indy laughed. The plane's engines roared to life, and it began to taxi down the runway.   
  
Leia braced herself at the loud noise. She had been on hundreds of vehicles, but none made this sort of sound. "I'm agreeing with Han on that." she said through gritted teeth. Indy smiled, thinking of how funny it was that these two adventurers of the galaxy were nervous about a plane ride from Cairo to Berlin.   
  
Once the plane was up to it's traveling elevation, things calmed down a bit. A stewardess came by and gave the passengers glasses of water. Leia accepted hers, but only took a small sip. She wasn't feeling the best right now. The stewardess then turned to the other side of the aisle. "Would you like some water sirs..." her pleasant question trailed off as her jaw loosened and her eyes widened. She knew it was rude to stare, but she really couldn't believe her eyes.   
  
Indy grinned, and accepted, "Yes please." Breathlessly, she handed the two look-alikes their drinks, then slowly walked on. Indy handed Han his glass.   
  
"What was the deal with that?" Han asked, half jokingly.   
  
Indy looked at the man seated beside him, wearing a borrowed pair of his brown pants, white shirt, dusty shoes, and besides the missing character fedora, looking exactly like him. A mischievous grin spread across his face. "Can't imagine." he said.   
  
Han was thirsty, and admittedly slightly nervous about the long flight in the less than perfect plane. He gulped down his water eagerly. Leia was not fairing well at all. "I..I don't feel so good." she said, clutching her stomach. She quickly unbuckled her seatbelt, and rushed to the back of the plane where there was a wastebasket. Indy gave Han a quizzical look.   
  
Han shrugged, "She flies all the time, though not exactly like this. You have to in her line of work."   
  
"Yeah, she was telling me about what she does. Seems pretty amazing. She's really a Princess?" Indy asked.   
  
Han smirked, "Yeah, mostly just an honorary title by now.   
  
Suddenly, Indy remembered a question he meant to ask the smuggler. "Leia also said that in the middle of fighting this war you were in, you were gone for a while. 'Detained' is how she said it. What was that about?"   
  
Han's face blanched. Memories of endless hours of consciousness, but not a single breath, flooded his thoughts. His breathing increased and his pulse started pounding a little harder. This was not something he wanted to talk about.   
  
Indy could see that his question had unnerved Han. He was starting to regret prying into what was obviously such a horrible memory. But some part of him still wanted to know what had happened to Han. He decided to let Solo speak if and when he felt like it.   
  
"Frozen," Han said shortly. Indy was puzzled by this single word answer. He stared at Han, whose eyes were shut. Slowly, Solo's eyes opened and he inclined his head slightly toward Jones. "That would be a better word for it. Trapped. Caged. Terrified," Han continued. "Detained," he smirked a bit as he said it. "Leave it to Leia to put it diplomatically."   
  
"How?" was all Indy could manage.   
  
Han shifted. "I was frozen in carbonite. It's this metal we use to freeze gases for shipping. Vader got the bright idea to use it to freeze Luke. But he needed to test it on me, first. And my old buddy Lando was willing to let him. Let him stick me into suspended animation, give me to a ruthless bounty hunter, and be delivered to my worst enemy. I stayed that way, for 6 months. Luckily, Luke, Lando, and Leia had escaped. They saved me and blew up the place," Han retold the story in only two breaths.   
  
Indy was shocked. Shocked and horrified. "Some kind of friend, Lando, turning you over like that. But you said he helped save you?" Indy was puzzled.   
  
"Yeah. He felt really bad for turning me over to Vader. But I can't say I blame him too much. You're bound to do crazy things with someone like Vader breathing down your neck," Han shivered involuntarily at the thought.   
  
"Who was Vader? He had to be horrible... to do something like that to you," Indy had never heard of such a terrible thing, and he felt deeply sorry for Han.   
  
"Vader," Han said the name with obvious spite, "He was the Emperor's top goon. The definition of evil. A twisted combination of man and machine."   
  
Indy clenched his fist in rage, "Man, if I could get my hands on him...." he trailed off, internally fuming.   
  
"The weirdest thing is..." Han said. "He wasn't all evil."   
  
Indy turned to him with a baffled look. "What?" he said.   
  
  
"He used to be a Jedi, a guardian of the galaxy like Luke. The Emperor twisted him, turned him to the Dark Side." Han tried to explain as best he could what he himself didn't really understand.   
  
"The Dark Side? Of what?" Indy asked.   
  
Han let out a long sigh. "The Force," he said. Indy was about to ask another question when he added, "But don't ask me. Not my subject. You'd have to ask Luke. He's the one who turned him back to bein' good."   
  
Indy's brow wrinkled in confusion, "How?" he inquired.   
  
Han shrugged, feeling somewhat uncomfortable with this subject. "I don't really know. Had something to do with the bond they shared, I guess. Seein' as Vader was his father and all-"   
  
"What?!" Indy gasped.   
  
"Yeah. Anakin Skywalker, who turned into Vader, was Luke and Leia's father." Han explained.   
  
Indy thought about this revelation for a few moments. Leia's father? Leia's own father had done that to Han? What kind of galaxy was going on out there, while Earth stood here, oblivious. He shook his head slowly. "And I thought I had it bad." He and Han resumed their former silence, going back to reading or sipping their water.   
  
Leia finally returned from the aft part of the plane. She sat in her seat and buckled her belt once again.   
  
"Where've you been?" Han asked nonchalantly.   
  
"In the back, impressing the flight attendants with my amazing upchuck reflex," Leia said. "Did you miss me greatly?" she said with an air of mock-innocence.   
  
"Nah. I think I'm rather glad I missed that display, actually," Han said with a grin. "Indy and I have just been talking about my 'detainment' on Tatooine."   
  
Leia's eyes shot over to Indy, who said nothing. She looked back at Han, who seemed to be reasonably under control. "Oh," she said, somewhat confused at the calm way Han referred to being frozen in carbonite. After a moment she added, "I think I'd chose my position anyday."   
  
That comment actually stirred up a laugh in Han. Leia was very happy to see that Han was able to forget the past and move on, something she had always had a hard time doing. "Indy," she said, "don't let Han get started on any more stories. You'll never hear the end of it."   
  
Han glanced at his chrono. "Hey, we've still got 8 hours left in this flight. Man have I got some great stories. You should hear about the time Chewie and I went out into the corporate sector and-" Han was cut off by Leia abruptly leaning over and putting a hand over his mouth. Han gave her an indignant look.   
  
"Han, as much as I'd love to hear some of those stories, I think I should get some sleep," Indy said with a yawn. "We all should. Berlin is not a place you wanna be inattentive in." The archeologist leaned back as far as the chair would allow, and pulled his fedora down over his eyes. Within a few moments, he was fast asleep.   
  
Leia looked over at Han. She gave his arm a little squeeze. "Good-night Han. We've got a big day ahead of us. Get some sleep," and with that, she settled into her chair and closed her eyes. Han yawned and stretched out. Tomorrow, they would wake up in Germany. They would all need to be alert.   
  
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	10. The Plan

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Leia drummed her fingers on the wooden arm of her chair. Across from her, Han sat more patiently. Leia could take the tension no more. She sprang from her seat, and began pacing about the dingy hotel room. "Where is he? Shouldn't he be back by now?" she said.   
  
Han stood and walked over to her, placing his hands on her shoulders to calm her down. "Relax sweetheart," he said, "I'm sure he'll be back soon."   
  
As if on cue, the door to the room creaked open, and Indiana Jones crept in, quietly shutting the door behind him. "Indy!" Leia exclaimed.   
  
Indy held a finger to his lips, "Shhh..." he hissed softly. He motioned them over to the table where they each took a chair.   
  
"Did you find what you were looking for?" Leia asked, this time more quietly.   
  
Indy nodded. "I contacted some of my old friends," he said in a whisper. "I found out that one of these blimps, the biggest one I think, is going to be doing a test-run in 3 days on April 28th. It's gettin' ready for a trip over to New Jersey in 8 days on May 3rd. Now, my friends tell me there's a crewman aboard, Erich Spehl, who has lots of anti-Nazi friends. They're pretty sure he can get us aboard." Indy stopped to make sure Han and Leia were still following. He had briefly explained to them the Earth calendar and distance measurements on the way to the hotel. They seemed to be following him, so he continued. "The city where the blimp is, Frankfurt, is about 210 miles away. We can take a train there that will get us there in about 4 hours. But the next train doesn't leave until tomorrow at noon."   
  
Han interrupted at this point, "Ok, so we can get on. But then we have to get to Cairo, right?" he asked. Indy nodded slowly. "And so, how do you plan to do that?" Han asked. Leia also looked at Indy warily.   
  
A small crooked smile spread across Indy's face. "High-jacking," he said. Leia and Han exchanged a vigilant look. "Don't worry. Those guys aren't armed. And we will be," Indy said.   
  
Han scratched his forehead. "I dunno, pal. I mean, I've taken on some big tasks before but..." he trailed off.   
  
"You two want to get back to your own time and place, right?" Indy asked. Han and Leia both nodded slowly. "Right. Well, this is the only way," Indy said.   
  
Han and Leia looked at each other. Han could tell Leia was as worried as he about this. He raised his eyebrows at her in silent question. After a moment of consideration, she gave him a slight nod. Han nodded back, then turned to Indy. "All right, we're game," Han said.   
  
Indy smiled, satisfied. "Ok," he began, "I have my revolver, and Han has his blaster. Leia, I have another gun for you." he crossed the room to his suitcase, and came back with a revolver and some bullets. "You're gonna need to know how to work this thing, in case we need to use it. This thing here pops open," he said, opening the empty magazine. "And you put the bullets in here," he loaded several bullets in, then snapped the magazine back in place. "You just aim, pull the trigger, and fire," he finished by aiming at the wall and simulating shooting. "Got that?" he asked her. She nodded. "Good. Oh, one other thing. It only holds 6 bullets, so you're gonna have to reload it if you want to shoot more," he said.   
  
Leia nodded. "I understand," she said.   
  
"Good," Indy said with a nod. "This is going to be a great trip," he grinned like an excited little kid getting ready to go to a ball-game.   
  
Han took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I have a bad feeling about this."   
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	11. Train to Frankfurt

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The train was quiet except for the soft churning of the wheels, and the chug of the engine. Leia was asleep in her seat. Across the aisle, Han was sitting, wide awake, with a piece of paper and a pencil in hand. He bit his lip in concentration. The chair next to him creaked, and he looked over to see Indy taking his seat.   
  
"What are you working on?" Indy asked, peering at the paper. There were some diagrams, and letters of an alphabet foreign to him scribbled on the paper.   
  
Han leaned over toward Indy, and spoke in a low voice so as not to wake any of the sleeping passengers on the train. "Well see, I've been thinking about it for a while, and I think I can at least partially repair the repulsorlifts."   
  
Indy nodded slowly, rubbing his chin in thought. "So, what exactly does that mean?"   
  
Han smiled slightly, then answered, "Well, I don't think I can get it off the ground, but once it's in the air we should be able to get her flying."   
  
"That's probably a good thing," Indy's tone indicated relief, "because I don't think that blimp will be able to haul your ship very far before giving out."   
  
Han raised an eyebrow at him, "And when were you planning to tell us this?" he asked.   
  
Indy shrugged. "When the blimps engines died and we started plummeting toward the Earth, I guess," he grinned.   
  
Han shook his head. He slipped the piece of paper into his pocket, and handed Indy the pencil. He shifted in his seat to a more comfortable position. In his new station, he could gaze out the window at the passing country-side. It was midday, and he saw a cloaked man with some sort of staff out in the fields with a mass of small, fluffy white animals around him. The cloaked man reminded him of Luke, and Luke reminded him of all the other people and places he just now realized he missed so much. It was one thing to go off across the galaxy on a mission. It was another thing entirely to be marooned in another time and galaxy with not too great of a plan for getting back.   
  
Indy noticed Han's face become etched with sadness. "What is it?" he asked, even though he was pretty sure he knew anyway.   
  
Han sighed. "Just thinking about how far from home I am. It's funny, I've never really thought of any one place as my home. But I suppose my whole galaxy, any part of the galaxy, would do right now," He gazed off dreamily into the blue sky and the bright yellow sun above. The two men shared a silent reverence for a while. Han slowly turned to Indy and said, "I just hope that blackhole we came from will take us back to the right place."   
  
Indy could offer no reassurance. He had no idea if it would. "Well you said your hyperdrive, the thing that lets you travel faster than light, still works right?" Indy asked.   
  
Han nodded, "Yeah."   
  
"Well, then why couldn't you just use it to get back to whatever galaxy you're from?" Indy asked. "It might be a long trip, but wouldn't it still work?"   
  
Han shook his head. "We could probably get there, but the problem is that it wouldn't even be the same time period as when we left. The blackhole sucked us right out of our galaxy to this one so fast, I think we actually went forward in time."   
  
Indy looked puzzled, "Forward? That doesn't really make sense. I mean, if Earth in 1937 is in your future, then why don't we have immense amounts of technology?"   
  
"Two different galaxies," Han explained. "Our technology never reached you guys. Your just going to have to wait to figure it out yourselves."   
  
"That's too bad," Indy said with a hint of sadness. "After all the places I've been, I'd still like to see space." he paused for a moment. Then he shrugged, "But hey, you can't miss what you never had, right?"   
  
Han nodded his agreement. But inside he knew that you could miss something you never had. Like having parents or a family. He wished he could give Indy his dream. "We better get some sleep. We have," Han looked at the 'watch' Indy had given to him. It took him a while to figure out the time, "2 hours till we get to Frankfurt." Han leaned back in his seat.   
  
'He's right, better save some energy,' Indy thought, pulling his fedora down over his eyes. For some reason unknown to him, he had a feeling there was a long couple days ahead of them...   
  
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	12. Das SpaßTeil

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The shipyard where the Hindenburg was kept was completely secure. An eight foot high barbed-wire fence surrounded the perimeter. There were two entrances, a front entrance and a slightly less prominent one on the east side of the compound. Both were heavily guarded, and only crewman were allowed in. There was no way an outsider could just stroll in and get on a blimp.   
But that didn't mean it wasn't going to happen. Indy, Han, and Leia were half a mile away from the complex, in a small restaurant, awaiting the arrival of their contact. None of them were calm enough to eat, so they simply sat drinking coffee.   
The door opened and a young, sandy-haired Nazi of about 25 entered. His blue eyes scanned the room until he spotted Dr. Jones and company seated around a table in the corner. He casually walked over, trying not to make his gait seem too urgent. "Gutentag, Herr Jones," he said.  
Indy shook the man's hand, "Gutentag, Herr Spehl." He returned the greeting.   
"Wer sind Ihre Freunde?" Erich asked, indicating Han and Leia.  
"This is Han Solo, and this is Leia Organa," Indy introduced them. From the somewhat puzzled looks on Han and Leia's faces, Indy decided he needed to explain some things. "Han and Leia don't speak German. They're from out of the country," Indy told Erich.  
Erich smiled a boyish smile, "I had gathered as much." he said with a heavy accent.   
Indy waived a hand at the empty seat next to him, "Please, sit." Erich obliged. "Erich is a rigger board the German Airship 'Hindenburg.' He's going to get us aboard," Indy explained.  
"Not all of Germany shared the Nazi view of world-domination. I for one disagree with their ways, but if we speak out we will quickly be silenced," Erich explained. "But I am happy to help in whatever other ways I can."   
Indy nodded, "Erich, is everything ready?" he asked.  
The young man replied, "Come this way." And the group followed him out the door. There was a German supply truck waiting outside. "You three can get in the cargo. But keep quiet. There are two uniforms for you," he nodded at Han and Indy who were standing next to each other. He started to climb into the truck, when he did a double take and looked back at the two men. He didn't say anything, but Indy and Han both knew what he was thinking. They played it down like they didn't notice anything unusual. Erich shook his head to 'clear' it, then silently climbed into the driver's seat. The three passengers climbed in the back.  
"Do you think we should try to hide?" Han asked Indy as the truck began it's short trip.   
"No, we'll just pretend we're crewmen. If they say anything to us, I'll do the talking," Indy said. Then he had another thought. "Leia, you're gonna have to stay hidden, though. There aren't any female crew members."  
"Figures," Leia grumbled as she crawled under a blanket on the floor. "stupid male-dominance, conquer the galaxy fodder."   
  
By the time they had reached the base, Han and Indy were fully dressed in Nazi Stormtrooper attire, right down to the hats which they kept low over their eyes to avoid being spotted. Their former garments were stowed away in a bag on the floor. The truck slowed to a stop when they reached the gate.   
An officer there stopped them. He came alongside Erich. "Geben Sie Irl Geschäft an," the officer demanded to know Erich's business.  
"Mannschaftsmitglied Spehl, habe ich Zubehör für den Hindenburg," without missing a beat, Erich stated his completely legitimate reason for entering the base, his authorized run for supplies. He had brought in the supplies, all right. He had just brought a few extra things with him as well.  
The officer circled around to the back. He pushed aside the canvas and peered inside. What he saw was the supplies, along with two crew members.  
"Sie sind auch Mannschaft?" the officer questioned the two men inside.   
Indy and Han exchanged a glance, then Indy replied, "Ja. Wir sind Köche."   
The officer looked around the truck once more. Han held his breath. If this didn't work...  
Finally, the officer waved them on. "Bewegen sie sich entlang," he said. The truck slowly pulled away and entered the airbase.   
Han let out a ragged breath, "That was too close. It's a good thing you speak German, Indy."   
Indy shrugged. "Not too difficult. He asked if we were crew and I just told him we were cooks," he clarified.   
"Good thing he didn't ask you to make anything," Leia said, sitting up from her hiding spot, "or our cover would have been blown." She smoothed her hair back, which was held in a tight bun. She was wearing combat fatigues, and was having somewhat of a flashback to the Battle of Endor. She appraised Han's new attire. "Nice hat," she said. "Who are you supposed to be, Piett?" she noted the similarities between the Nazi uniforms and the one the late Admirals of the Empire had worn.   
"Nah, he's dead, remember?" Han said, "We blew him to the cosmos and back."  
Leia laughed. "That's right. Where are we going from here?"   
Indy was going to answer that he wasn't sure, when Erich answered, "From here I drop you off, and wish you luck." he said, stopping the truck. "I would join you, but as I said, there are some for whom adventure is meant and some who are meant to stay behind the lines. And I would like to keep my job."  
The three passengers unloaded from the back of the truck. Indy grasped Erich's hand, "Good luck. Thank you." Erich drove off, leaving Han, Leia, and Indy standing outside a large hangar. "Well boys and girls, this is it," Indy said. "Inside that hangar is our one good chance at getting your ship back in the sky so you two can go home. We're lucky to have made it this far. Now," he paused. "Now comes the fun part."  
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	13. Control Room

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The control room of the Hindenburg was quiet. Several young men fidgeted, but silently. There were about 20 new trainees aboard the vessel that would be making their first commercial run in several days. So no one really noticed Indy, in his Nazi uniform, standing near the door.   
A man entered, wearing the insignia and bearing the posture of a captain. "Schalten Sie die Maschine ein," he instructed his crew. The men worked efficiently with the knobs, levers, and various other equipment which was required to make the craft lift off. On the ground, there were more men untying the ropes which held the Hindenburg tethered down. With a great blast of the massive engine, the vessel was sent aloft, and it's ropes pulled back in until it would be time to land.   
Indy tried not to make it too noticeable that he wasn't doing anything. He was fairly well hidden from any superior officers, and they were too busy giving orders to notice him. His eyes kept unconsciously flickering toward the door, where any moment, Han and Leia were supposed to enter.  
  
Back in the cargo hold, Han and Leia were standing next to the door which led into the long hallway which, in turn, led to the control room. Han took a deep breath. "Ready?" he asked Leia.   
She held her revolver up in her right hand, with her left hand placed on the doorknob. "Ready," she acknowledged. Han nodded at her, and she swiftly threw the door open. The two of them ran out onto the catwalk, and at first encountered no one. They came to a second door, which they burst threw to find roughly 15 crew members laboring away in. The crew looked shocked, but they were unarmed. They quickly held up their hands up, so Han and Leia continued on.   
Along the way to the control room, they encountered more crewmen, but none of them were armed, or looked as if they had any desire to fight. Soon, the door to the control room was in sight. They rushed up to it, and burst in.  
  
When Han and Leia entered the cabin, Indy was ready. He immediately drew his weapon and joined the charge.  
Han soon learned that the men in the control room were not quite the pacifists that the other crew had been. One man immediately drew a weapon, but Han quickly silenced him with a stun bolt. There was a general gasp of amazement from the Germans when they saw the blue rings strike their comrade and send him to the ground. One tall, muscular officer took Han off guard in this calm moment with a blow to the right side of his head. Han smashed into the wall, a little dazed, but mostly angry. He turned his blaster on the man and was about to stun him when another officer kneed him in the ribs. A sharp pain coursed through his body as he felt the tender cracked ribs snap even further. He dropped his blaster, and it skidded across the floor.  
The tall German who had first assaulted Han dove after his dropped weapon. He was quickly halted when the butt of a revolver connected with his skull. Leia hit the man again, just for good measure, then picked up Han's blaster.   
Indy waved his gun around in a sweeping motion. "Lassen sie Ihre Waffen fallen!" he shouted. "Lassen sie Ihre Waffen fallen!" he repeated. Reluctantly, the three crewmen who had guns obeyed by dropping them and kicking them across to Indy. Indy scooped them up, careful to always have his own gun trained on them. He tucked one of the guns in his belt as a spare, then handed the other two over to Leia and Han.   
Leia tucked hers away, then helped Han to his feet. "You okay? How are your ribs?" she asked him.  
Han bit his lip as he stood up. "Yeah, I'm ok," he answered, "Ribs hurt a little but I'll live." She smiled and handed him the other spare handgun, which he tucked into his belt. She also handed him back his blaster, which he declined to put away in its holster, and instead kept it in his hand.  
Indy approached the captain. "You," he said to him, "you're Captain Pruss, right? You speak English?"   
The Captain hesitated for a moment, then replied in choppy but passable English, "Yez. I am tze Captain."  
Indy nodded, "Good. Order your men to set course for Cairo, Egypt." Captain Pruss didn't move. Indy stepped closed, and held the gun under the man's chin. "Order them," he growled.   
The Captain shouted, "Ändern Sie Kurs für Kairo." The men in the room began to use the various panels to turn the ship around and alter its course. They were very cautious, and very aware of the guns being pointed at them by Han and Leia.  
"Now," Indy said in a more calm tone than before, "order all the crew to turn in their weapons to me. Ok?"  
Captain Pruss nodded. "Yez, abzolutly." This time, he didn't hesitate as he picked up the PC mic and announced to the whole vessel, "Alle Mannschaft, diese ist der Kapitän. Holen sie bitte Ihre Waffen zum Steuerraum diesmal." When he was done with his announcement, he carefully set down the mic.   
Indy nodded in satisfaction, "Good, good. Now if you will please just sit down against that wall over there. Good." Captain Pruss complied obediently. Indy motioned to the other crew and officers in the room with his gun. "Gegen die Ward," he commanded them. They did as they were told. He allowed a few of them to stay at their posts and monitor the necessary instruments.  
There was a knocking on the door. Han and Leia were both covering the crew, so Indy went over and open it, making sure to keep his weapon at the ready. There were 4 crew members with their hands in the air, their riffles held by the barrels in their left hands in a gesture of surrender. Indy smiled, satisfied, "Gewehren?" They handed their guns to him, and he in turn handed them back to Han and Leia for safekeeping. "Danke," he told the crewmen. He waved them back, "Gehen zurück su, wo Sie waren." They quickly retreated back to their normal posts. Indy shut the door, then turned to Han and Leia with a satisfied smirk. "See? What'd I tell ya? Good thing those crew listen to their Captain. It should be smooth sailing from here," he said.  
Leia raised a questioning eyebrow at him. "That's the part that usually goes the worst."  
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	14. Liftoff

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Wrrrrrr, click, wrrrrr. Indy was lazily spinning the magazine cartridge of his gun. The airship had been traveling all night, and would arrive in Egypt soon. The sun began to rise, and from the control room, Indy could see the landscape beneath them become illuminated in the glowing orange light.   
The crew in the control room was keeping up with their duties. Having three people with guns, even without them being constantly trained on you, was enough to keep the Nazis in line. They were not the sort of soldiers who were accustomed to weapons. In fact, some of them were not soldiers at all. So they continued on with their normal duties as their three captors sat on the floor in waiting.  
Indy glanced across the room to where Han was seated, with Leia asleep leaning against him. They exchanged a glance. Leia stirred slowly awake, and followed Han's gaze over to Indy. She smiled warmly at him.   
"Morning Princess," Indy said with a grin, "feeling nice and rested?"  
"Yes. I didn't realize how tired I was," Leia replied. "Did you two get any sleep?" she asked.  
Indy shook his head, and Han said, "No, someone had to keep an eye on these guys during the night."  
Leia slapped Han lightly. "Han Solo!" she said, "How intimidating do you think you'll be if you are on the brink of falling over?"  
"I'll be fine. Besides, I'm sitting down," he said, "at least I don't have to worry about falling over." He shrugged.   
Leia sighed. She threw up her hands and looked skyward in a gesture of pleading. "The man is impossible," she decided, and stood to stretch her legs.  
Indy couldn't help but laugh at the situation. "What?" Han asked him. "What's so funny?"  
Indy shook his head, "Nothing. She just reminds me of someone I know. Or used to know. I'm not really sure anymore." Han gave Indy a suspicious glance at his ambiguous statement. "What?" Indy asked.  
"So," Han asked, "you gonna tell me about her or not?"  
Indy sighed. "I wouldn't know where to start." He thought about it for a moment. "Her name is Marion. She's a tall, tough girl with dark eyes, dark hair, and a heck of a right hook." Indy rubbed his jaw at the memory of the punch Marion had delivered to him the last time they had been reunited. "Can't say I could have blamed her too much for hating me at the time." Indy didn't even notice when Leia sat down next to Han to listen. "See when we met, Marion was just a kid really. 17 years old, but already the most charming person I'd ever met." Indy shook his head, "I should have known right then that I was doomed."  
"What happened?" Leia asked. It was only then that Indy noticed she was listening, but he decided to continue anyway.   
"We got involved. And needless to say, when her father found out, he was not to happy." Indy said.   
Han winced at thought. Parents could complicate things so much. The only one of his girlfriend's parents he had ever met was Bria's, and needless to say, that hadn't gone well.  
Indy continued, "The real kicker was that her dad was my archaeology professor, my mentor. I was 27, and I was training under him. My own father was too entangled in his work to take much notice of me, but Abner, he took me under his wing. I was like a son to him. He cared about me, trusted me." His face turned solemn. "And I betrayed that trust. After he found out about me and Marion, he told me to leave and not to come back. That was the last time I saw him. He died shortly after that in an accident."  
Han could really sympathize with Indy. It sounded like something that would happen to him. "So... did you ever see her again?" He asked.  
"Yeah," Indy said, "I met up with her again 6 months ago. Needless to say, she was a little more than angry with me for basically screwing up her entire life. But we both got over it I think. But it wasn't exactly the best timing." Inside, Indy laughed. No, timing was never his specialty. "We were being chased by the Nazis, who were after this powerful religious artifact, which we were also after, and we got captured..." he trailed off. "Well, that's another story. We didn't stay together too long. I'm always on the road, and even when I'm back in the states, she lives all the way across the country. I've thought about going to see her. Sometimes you just have to commit to these things." Indy gave Han a pointed glance.  
  
Suddenly uncomfortable with where the conversation was going, Han coughed and stood up. Leia looked up at him, but he looked away out the window. "Well, um," he began, not really knowing what to say. "I think we're almost to the Falcon."  
Indy got up and strode over to Han to look out the window with him. "Yeah, I think so. Let's see, it was to the east of Cairo so..." He turned to Captain Pruss, who was overseeing the piloting of the craft. "Captain, we're looking for a large, round aircraft that should be outside the city, to the east. Take us there."   
Pruss nodded wearily, then gave the necessary commands to his crewmen to turn the ship towards its destination.   
Leia came over and joined Indy and Han in looking out the window, combing the sands with their eyes for the Falcon. Leia thought she saw a reflective gleam, as if off the surface of metal, shining in the distance. "There!" she said, pointing toward the ship.  
The Hindenberg slowly approached the Millennium Falcon. When the spacecraft came into full view, gasps could be heard from the German crewmen. Captain Pruss' eyes widened at the site.   
"That's good," Indy said. "Park her over the ship."  
The Captain gave the orders, and the crewmen obediently followed. They never took their eyes off the site of the mechanical wonder below them, though. Once the Hindenberg was holding steady in place, Indy directed the Captain to drop all the lines down, and prepare a crew to go down to the surface. After making the announcement, Captain Pruss left his station to lead Han, Indy, and Leia to the exit hatch.   
Normally, a crew would already be on the ground ready to anchor the blimp. But under the circumstances, men had to be lowered to the ground in order to do the work. Han decided to go down with them. He had some tweaking to do with the repulsorlifts, and someone was needed to supervise the attachment of the ropes to his beloved ship.   
Han wound one of the ropes tightly around his wrist, then held on for dear life. When he was ready, Indy started lowering the rope down toward the ground. All around, crew members were being lowered in the same fashion. As soon as Han's feet hit the ground, he untangled himself from the line. Immediately, crew members started carrying out their orders to attach the lines to the strange craft. They crawled under the belly of the Falcon, and began attaching the ropes.   
Satisfied, Han lowered the Falcon's ramp and went inside to begin his repairs. He grabbed a box of mismatched tools and set to work on the board that controlled the ship's repulsor lifts. He pulled the diagram he had sketched earlier out of his pocket. He had some trouble reading the plan, grabbing the right tools, and fixing the board at the same time. At the moment, he really regretted not having Chewie along to help. He finally worked out a position lying on his back, with the tools to his side, the plan laid out on his chest, and the board over his head where he could repair it semi-functionally.   
  
Back up in the open hatch on the belly of the Hindenberg, Indy and Leia were watching all the work below. The Germans had effectively attached the strong lines to the Falcon, and now rope ladders were being lowered for the crew to be pulled back up on. Once they were all safely aboard, Leia reached into the cargo pocket of her shorts and pulled out a commlink. "Han, did you get the repulsor's repaired?" she asked. There was a moment of silence, then Han's voice came through.   
"Yeah," Han said, "and I just closed the hatch. I'm gonna get into the cockpit, then we'll be ready to go."  
Leia and Indy waited anxiously. Finally, the commlink crackled, "Ok, I'm firing up the repulsor lifts.... now!" Han shouted. The Falcon emitted a blue glow as it strained to lift off of the sandy ground.   
"Order lift off!" Indy shouted to Captain Pruss, who immediately sent an aide to the control room with the command. In a few minutes, the Hindenberg began to slowly rise into the air. The lines attaching the Millennium Falcon to the blimp became taught. The strain of the huge yet light craft was evident as it began to creek under the stress.  
  
In the Falcon's cockpit, Han was trying to coax every last ounce of power out of his ship. "C'mon old girl, don't give up on me now. C'mon...c'mon..." he pleaded with the freighter.  
The groaning of the Hindenberg's metal shell was starting to worry Indy. He was just about to tell the Captain to stop the ship, when the Falcon's supports lifted off of the sand. Once it was clear of the ground, it began to rise swiftly, then stopped, hovering in midair where it's captain had halted it.   
"Yes!" Leia yelled with joy, giving Indy a hug.   
Indy was grinning from ear to ear with delight. He turned to Captain Pruss. "Now have those lines all cut," He directed. The Captain hesitated. "Now," Indy added tersely. The German commander did as he was ordered, and the lines were soon cut and fell to the dunes below.   
Han maneuvered the Falcon so that it was just 50 feet below the Hindenberg's open hatch. Carefully, he set the controls so that the ship would remain stationary. Then he made his way to the top hatch, and climbed the ladder out onto the Falcon's roof. A rope ladder dropped down, and Han could see Leia just starting to climb down it.   
Indy was standing at the top of the ladder, waiting to climb down it himself. He wasn't paying attention to the German's around him. He didn't realize the guard next to him had a gun until he heard two gunshots and saw Han drop to the deck of his ship. Indy spun around, aiming his gun at the guard. As he fired though, his gun was knocked out of his hand sending the shot harmlessly out the open hatch. The guard was tall, 6'5" and he was built. He delivered a left hook to Indy's jaw before the professor could act. The impact sent Indy helplessly tumbling out of the open hatch in the floor. He grasped at the rope with his right hand, and somehow managed to pull himself onto the dangling ladder.  
Why does this suddenly seem familiar? Indy thought to himself. But instead of a river full of crocodiles below, the hard metal surface of the Falcon loomed below him. And the Nazis at the top were cutting the rope. Why always me? Indy barely had time to finish his thought before he was scrambling helplessly down the ladder, with bullets still whizzing past him. When he was still 15 feet above the ship, the ropes snapped, and he fell the rest of the way.  
Indy hit the metal deck with a thud. He wasted no time pulling himself up and sprinting for the open hatch. Leia was waving him forward from inside. She had managed to get Han inside the ship and secured. Indy jumped the last couple of feet, straight down the hatch. He grabbed the open door, and slammed it shut. Just as he did, a bullet zoomed in through the closing hatch, and struck the metal next to Indy's head, creating sparks. "Woah!" Indy exclaimed, jumping back. "That," he muttered to himself, "was way too close."  
"Get ready back there!" Leia's voice shouted from the cockpit.   
Indy didn't have time to object or even to ask what she was doing. It was all he could do to brace himself as the Falcon's sublight engines kicked in, suddenly rocketing the ship out of Earth's atmosphere and into space.  
  
Captain Max Pruss stood with mouth agape. The entire crew in the control room was just staring out the window. Only a second ago, the strange large metal aircraft containing their high-jackers was right beneath them. Then suddenly, without warning it had accelerated up, into the sky, past the clouds, and apparently through the atmosphere of Earth. In a split second, it was nothing but a trail of sand and a memory.   
Captain Pruss managed to wet his dry mouth, and tear his eyes away from the window. All eyes on deck turned toward him. All the faces were wide-eyed and shocked. The Captain put a stern look on his face and said in a deep, serious tone, "Not a word of zis getz out."  
  
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	15. Heading Home

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Once the Falcon was safely in space, Leia cut the engines, and ran back toward the hold. Han was now laying down on the acceleration couch, and Indy was looking at him with worry etching his face. Han was groaning in pain, but still conscious.   
"Han, where were you shot?" Leia asked.  
"In the leg... doesn't hurt too bad but... my head..." Han groaned as he held his throbbing head in his hands. There was a bleeding cut above Han's left ear from where a bullet had grazed his head.  
"Looks like a bullet nearly got you. You're lucky," Indy said, "You might have a headache but at least you're still alive."  
Leia quickly went and retrieved a medipack. She handed Han a vile of liquid. "Here," she said, "some pain killers." Han graciously downed the contents. Leia took a piece of gauze-like material and wiped up the blood. She then sprayed on some synthflesh. "Now, let me look at your leg," she said.  
Han slowly sat up, and propped his right leg up on the couch. There was a dark crimson bloodspot around his knee. "Here," Indy offered, ripping the pants off just above the knee, "Ouch, that looks painful."   
"I've had worse, it'll be ok," Han insisted.   
Leia frowned. "Han, I think the bullet is still in there," she said.  
Han suddenly became alert. "Huh?" he asked.  
Leia bit her lip, "We can't let it stay in there, it might get infected."  
Han's eyes widened. "No no no. You are not going to do it. No way. We can wait til we get back to Courscant. I'm not having you slicing my leg up. Out of the question," he said frantically.  
"Do you want some sedatives?" Leia asked.  
Han shook his head, "No because you're not taking that thing out. You can forget it."  
Leia ignored him, and instead turned to Indy. "Indy, would you hold his leg in place?"  
Indy looked at Han, and Han gave him a pleading look and shook his head. "Sorry pal," Indy said. "She's right." He placed a hand on Han's ankle, and one above his knee.   
Leia pulled out a bottle of antiseptic and squirted it on Han's knee to clean it out. Then she pulled out a small surgical vibro-blade. Han's eyes widened as he saw the light glistening off the metal blade. He fleetingly tried to squirm away. "Han, if you keep moving around like that your whole leg will be sliced up by the time I'm through," Leia admonished him. "Now sit still."  
Han reluctantly settled down. As Leia leaned in closer and closer, he bit his lip. This was going to hurt.   
Leia could see the bullet lodged in the tissue of Han's joint. She carefully leaned in, then as swiftly and painlessly as possible, she cut the metal projectile out. Han's fingernails dug into the fabric of the couch as he tried as hard as he could not to scream out in pain.   
"There," Leia said in a satisfied tone. She held up the bullet. She squirted some more antiseptic on the wound, then sprayed some synthflesh on it. "Good as new."  
Han glared at her. "I hate you," he ground out through clenched teeth.   
She shook her head and made a 'tsk, tsk, tsk' sound. "Is that anyway to treat your doctor?"  
"That felt more like torture than medicine to me," Han replied. Leia just smiled at him, then kissed him on the forehead.   
She turned to Indy, "Thank you for your help, Indy. You make a wonderful nurse."  
"Oh gee, thanks," Indy grumbled. There was a pause, then something dawned on him. "We're in space now, aren't we?" he asked. Leia nodded. "Can I... can I see it?" he asked, sounding like a little boy.  
Han grinned. He pulled himself slowly to his feet. "Only if you say please," he said. He grinned and, with a slight limp, motioned Indy to follow him to the cockpit.  
  
Indy stepped into the cockpit. He gazed outside the window. He was amazed by what he saw. There was blackness all around, the darkest black he had ever imagined, and within it the millions of tiny stars which had once seemed so visible from Earth. But now they glowed even brighter. And below them, looking like a precious blue and white marbled decoration, was Earth. Indy said nothing as he stared out into the void. He could only stand, open mouthed, and gaze in wonder.  
Han and Leia couldn't help but smile. The wonder of space and seeing a planet from outside it's atmosphere was something that had become routine for both of them. Seeing Indy's reaction now, some of the mystery and magic of space flight came back to them.  
Indy, still staring out the window, whispered, "It's beautiful. I... Thank you. This is really something."  
Han clasped Indy's shoulder. "Anything for a friend," he said.  
Indy finally tore his eyes away from the spectacle in front of him, and turned to look at Han and Leia. "As much as I could just sit up here all day, I think I'd better get back down to Earth," he said.  
Han nodded. "Yeah. And we need to get back to our own time and place. C'mon," Han lead the archaeologist toward an escape pod. He stepped in, and entered the approximate coordinates of the desert outside Cairo into the navicomputer. "This pod'll take you back to Cairo. It's on autopilot, so you won't have to worry about flying it or landing it or anything," he told Indy.  
Indy smiled, "That's good. I have a little landing problem."   
Han stood, and exited the pod. "Well," he said, "I guess this is it."  
Indy nodded slowly, "Yeah I guess so."  
Leia stepped forward and gave Indy a hug, "You take care of yourself. Try to stay away from those Nazis, ok?"  
Indy smiled as he pulled out of the embrace, "Ok."  
"Thanks for everything," she said with a warm smile.  
Han offered an outstretched hand to Indy. Indy took it, then pulled him into an embrace. "You've got something really special there. Don't let it go," Indy said so only Han could hear.   
Han slapped his friend on the back, then they both stood back.  
Indy stepped back into the escape pod. He sat down in a seat, and buckled himself in. "Have a good trip you two," he said.  
Han nodded, "You too. And behave yourself Indiana Jones. I don't want to have to come back and set you straight."  
The two men both smiled, their charming, half-smiles.   
"Good-bye," Leia said.   
"Good-bye," Indy replied.  
Han leaned forward and palmed the door closed. From behind the protective glass, Indy tipped his fedora to the two spacers in farewell. Han waved, then hit the control to jettison the pod.  
The escape pod rocketed away, quickly becoming smaller and smaller as it headed for Earth. Han and Leia watched until the pod was just a speck, and then they could see it no more.   
Leia tugged at Han's arm. "Come on Captain," she said as she ushered him toward the cockpit. "We've got a big trip ahead of us."  
  
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	16. Epilogue

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The Millennium Falcon was hurled out of the blackhole and back into normal space. Han quickly ignited the brakes, to prevent the ship from being slingshotted into yet another blackhole.  
For a moment, both Han and Leia were silent. Then Leia whispered, "Are we back?"  
After a moment, Han replied, "I think we made it. We're back."  
Han and Leia shared a heartfelt hug.  
When they parted, Leia said, "Ok. Now let's get outta here and back to Courscant and have some rest."  
Han nodded his agreement, "You got that right." He was about to cut in the sublight engines and head out of the Kessel Run, when he paused. He targeted the blackhole with the navicomputer, and marked the coordinates.  
Leia raised an eyebrow at him. "Just in case?" she asked.  
Han grinned slyly, and nodded back. "Just in case."  
  
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	17. The Making of 'Earth1937'

The Making of 'Earth1937'  
I can remember being a little kid and loving nothing more than to watch Indiana Jones. I would play it all the time with my older brother, and I would always insist on being Indy. I loved the movies so much that, when I was 3, I named my dog Indiana. And to me there could be no better story than one that would involve both of my favorites, Star Wars and Indiana Jones.   
Now this dream has finally become a reality. I've always been a writer for as long as I can remember. Even when I was 5 years old, I would write little stories and read them to my family. When I was in third grade I wrote my first real story, which astounded my teachers with it's complexity and detail. I tried, and failed, at several attempts to write original stories. And then I found my calling.  
I had so many ideas of things that might have happened to my favorite Star Wars characters, and I was so anxcious to write them down. My first two fanfics, "High Treason" and "Fate's Hand" were a success. In fact, they are being printed in "I Care IV", a Star Wars fanzine, in December. And they are only part of my series which is in the works, chronicling the time from ANH-ESB.  
But when I got the idea for a story that put Han and Leia in OUR universe, it was a challenge to write. It's easy enough to write Star Wars stories, as long as you have a rudimentry knowledge of the GFFA, because you can always invent planets, people, and races. The GFFA is a big place, and who knows what every system could hold? But I found that it was much more difficult to write creatively when you had to keep elements of the story and enviroment true to actual history.   
In writing 'Earth1937', I was determined to be as historically accurate as possible. In order to accomplish this, I had to do a lot of research on the Hindenberg, and I learned a lot of things about it. I also had to find out things like how fast the trains of the day travelled through Germany, and how long it would take a train to get from Berlin to Frankfurt (yes, 4 hours.) It was not only an historically edjucating experience, but a literary one as well. I learned how to research and find the facts before letting my creative mind take full control.  
Another thing I did to make the story seem more accurate and real was use real German. This created a problem because I don't speak German, I just speak English and French. So I had to actually use various translators and other resources to figure out the German phrases that I wanted to use in the story. I hoped that by the context clues, you the readers would be able to figure out what was being said. In case you couldn't, or you are just curious, here is a list of the German phrases used in 'Earth1937' and what they mean in English:  
  
Gutentag, Herr Jones- Good afternoon, Mr. Jones.  
Gutentag, Herr Spehl- Good afternoon, Mr. Spehl.  
Wer sind Ihre Freunde?- Who are your friends?  
  
  
Geben Sie Irl Geschäft an- State your business.  
Mannschaftsmitglied Spehl, habe ich Zubehör für den Hindenburg- Crewman Spehl, with supplies for the Hindenburg.  
Sie sind auch Mannschaft?- You are crew?  
Ja. Wir sind Köche- Yes. We are cooks.  
Bewegen sie sich entlang- Move along.  
  
  
Schalten Sie die Maschine ein- Start the engine.  
Lassen sie Ihre Waffen fallen!- Drop your weapons!  
Ändern Sie Kurs für Kairo- Change course for Cairo.  
Alle Mannschaft, diese ist der Kapitän. Holen sie bitte Ihre Waffen zum Steuerraum diesmal- All crew, this is the Captain. Please bring all weapons to the control room.  
Gegen die, Ward- Against the wall.  
Gewehren? Danke, gehen zurück zu, wo sie waren.- Guns? Thank you, go back to where you were please.  
  
I hope that helped to clear up any questions you may have had about the German in the story. And maybe you learned a little German too. Now you can go impress all of your friends.  
When I started writing the story, I knew that I wanted Han and Leia to go through one of the blackholes in the Kessel Run, to be marooned on Earth, and to have Indiana Jones have to help them get back to where they came from. Somehow. So I began writing the story, and I decided that I would figure out how later. I decided, "Hey, they could use a blimp. And it could be a Nazi blimp so they'd have to go into Germany. Cool." And there, problem solved! Not quite. When I went to do research on the blimps, I found out that the only blimp really opperating at the time was the Hindenburg. And it had exploded in 1937 over a New Jersey airfield.  
So I decided to have Han, Leia, and Indy capture the Hindenburg on a test run right before it's fateful final journey. In order to include the Hindenberg in this story, I had to do a lot of research. I have hindenburg.net to thank for all the information I got. In case you were wondering, here are some facts about the Hindenburg that played a roll in the story:  
  
* There were 20 or so trainees aboard the Hindenberg for it's final journey.  
* The Hindenburg left the airfield in Frankfurt, Germany on May 3rd, 1937.  
* The Captain of the Hindenburg was Max Pruss, who survived the crash.  
* A 25 year old crew member by the name of Erich Spehl, who had many anti-Nazi friends, is suspected by some of having put a bomb inside the aircraft and thus causing the tradjety at the New Jersey Airfield. He perished in the crash.  
* Some people think that the explosion of the Hindenburg was caused by internal damage. No one knows exactly how the damage could have occured.  
  
So in my story, I was able to use real life people and events to aide the plot. I made sure that it was likely that Han, Leia, and Indy could have used a crew member to get onto the blimp. I also wanted to give the reader the feeling that, "Hmmm... maybe trying to lift the Millennium Falcon caused some damage to the Hindenburg and that's why it... nah... couldn't be....could it?" I admit that there is no knowledge of a schedualed test run 8 days before the Hindenburg's journey. But I imagine such things would not be out of the question, especially since there was new crew aboard in training. And besides, if your blimp got high-jacked by a couple of people from outter space and a troublesome archaeologist, you wouldn't exactly want to make that public knowledge now, would you? So in this way, I ensured that the happenings of this story fit in as well as possible with actual history.   
In wrtiting this story, I have accomplished one of my dreams. I've not only been able to write a story involving my two favorite series, but I hope I've been able to do it well. I also hope that you, the reader have enjoyed reading it. I hope that it was entertaining and that you appreciated all the hard work that went into writing it.  
There are a couple people that I'd like to thank. First of all, I have to thank God for creating me and for sending his one and only son to die for me and all of the rest of us sinners. You're number one. I'd also like the thank Bria for her encouragement and willingness to read something she didn't really want to. I hope you enjoyed it. I'd like to thank my friend Zach for helping me to conquer the evil writer's block, and to give me some ideas. Han got shot, I hope you're happy. I would like to thank to readers, all of you. You've been so supportive and I'm really glad you enjoyed my story. I'd like to thank my computer for being so nice to me and letting me type this story without it getting lost or having any other complications.  
This story is dedicated to Charisse(Indy), and Amanda(Leia) from your beloved friend Han. The three amigos finally get a story of their own.   
To all of you out there, keep reading, writing, and watching Star Wars and Indiana Jones. Long live Harrison Ford, and God Bless you all!  
  
-Solo Jones-   



End file.
